Coraggio Consulting
Hanover County School Board Meeting, Tuesday, August 12, 2025

Date: Tuesday, August 12, 2025
Place: Hanover County School Board, Virginia
Length: 2h 17m (video)
Official meeting video (CivicClerk): https://hanovercova.portal.civicclerk.com/event/1505/media

Machine transcript (speech-to-text) produced by Coraggio Consulting. Not an official county record. Names and numbers may be misspelled; check the video at the timestamp before quoting.
Speech-to-text: whisper.cpp, model large-v3-turbo. Produced 2026-10-24. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:00:00] Meeting per the Code of Virginia, Section 2.2-3711A1, personnel, review recommendations of the superintendent of resignations, appointments, transfers, assignments, promotions, terminations, salary adjustments, and leaves of absence for teachers and other employees.

[00:00:20] Section 2.2-3711A2, consideration of requests for religious exemption from compulsory school attendance. Okay, we have a motion on the floor by Mr. Coleman. We have a second second. Thank you, dr. Shroff and any discussion. Okay, all

[00:00:54] No discussion all in favor say aye all opposed okay, we are in closed session

[01:05:12] We do okay, we're good. We are going to return to open session and We we need to certify closed session. So mr. Coleman, can you? motion for that please yes uh i would like to make a motion to certify the closed meeting whereas the hanover county school board has convened closed meeting on this date pursuant to an affirmative recorded vote and in accordance with the provisions of the virginia freedom of

[01:05:44] information act and whereas section 2.2-3712d of the code of virginia requires a certification by this school board that such executive meeting was conducted in conformity with Virginia law. Now therefore be it resolved that the Hanover County School Board hereby certifies that to the best of each member's knowledge only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements by Virginia law were discussed in the executive meeting to which the certification applies and only such public business matters as were identified in the motion

[01:06:18] convening the executive meeting were heard discussed or considered. Thank you Mr. Coleman we have a motion on the table do we have a second second thank you mr. Martin is there any discussion seeing none all in favor say aye aye all opposed okay we have certified the closed meeting we are now going to go into a

[01:06:44] recess for eight minutes thank you okay we are gonna return from return back to

[01:15:58] open session and we need a motion to do that correct okay do we need a motion to return back to open session we okay from a recess okay okay thank you so now we

[01:16:14] are going to okay we are going to the moment of silence now okay we were gonna have a moment of silence and then we're gonna move into our invocation and and pledge of allegiance by Dr. Shrop. Please join me in a moment of silence for the passing of

[01:16:51] Penelope Teresidis, who was a former student of South Anna Elementary School. Our thoughts and prayers are with Penelope's family, loved ones, friends, and the South Anna Elementary School community. Thank you. Please stand. Gracious and loving God, as a new school year begins, we lift all those returning to the classroom, teachers, students, staff, administrators,

[01:17:30] and parents. We ask for your presence to fill every hallway, every desk, and every heart. Grant wisdom to educators as they guide and inspire, making room for every child to grow, not just in knowledge, but in character. Pour out patience for every challenge, every question, and every unexpected moment. Instill tolerance and understanding in every interaction so that classrooms become places of kindness, compassion, and learning for all. Bless students with the desire to learn, the courage to ask question, and the resilience to keep going when things get hard.

[01:18:04] Uplift parents and caregivers. Give them strength for the days, hope for the future, and peace in knowing they are not alone. And for all those working behind the scenes, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, custodians, maintenance, counselors, and aides, may they feel seen, valued, and supported.

[01:18:23] Shine your light upon this board, granting us the wisdom to make decisions that serve the best interest of every child. Place your protective hands upon our superintendent and her leadership team as they guide and serve with courage and compassion. Let this year be one of growth, not just academically, but spiritually and emotionally. May your light guide each step, and may your love bind this community together. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

[01:18:48] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you we are we need an emotion to approve the minutes for the recently held

[01:19:19] meeting so moved second thank you do we have any discussion all right seeing none all those in favor say aye aye okay all those opposed thank you we have approved the minutes. We are now going into recognition and announcements. Dr.

[01:19:49] Penny Cuff will you join me down at the floor? Thank you madam chair, Dr. Penny Cuff, board members it is always a pleasure to bring forth the great news and accomplishments of our students and staff. Our first recognitions of the night go to our VHSL class 4 individual state outdoor track and field champions.

[01:20:13] Congratulations to the following state champs and please come forward when your name is called. Tori Goodson of Atlee High School in the 100 meter hurdles, the 100 meter dash, and the 300 meter hurdles. Mia Bryson also of Atlee High School in the shot put. Jalen Joyner

[01:20:43] of Hanover High School in the long jump. Josh Seifert of Hanover High School in the high jump. Last but not least, Devin Roos of Patrick Henry High School in the long jump. Congratulations.

[01:22:02] Our next recognitions go to two outstanding athletes who earned the distinction of being named as the 2025 All-Metro Track and Field Athletes of the Year.

[01:22:26] Congratulations goes to, once again, Tori Goodson of Attlee High School and Devin Roos of Patrick Henry High School. Come on back up here, Devin.

[01:23:27] And our next recognition of the evening also hails from Attlee High School. Attlee earned for the second year in a row the top state award for a combination of academic and athletic success during the 2024-25 school year.

[01:23:45] Raider Nation won the VHSL's National Guard Cup presented by the Virginia Army National Guard. Atlee's many successes on the playing field and in the classroom helped the school receive a total of 722.5, which was the highest point total across all six VHSL classes.

[01:24:03] Congratulations to Atlee High School. Here representing Atlee High School is the principal, Dr. John Wheeler. Dave Canterworth, the Atlee's director

[01:24:11] of student activities, please join us up front.

[01:24:55] - All right, our next award, our communications department didn't want to toot its own horn so I get to do this one. Our communications team has once again been recognized as the highest level nationally. Each year the National School Public Relations Association recognizes school divisions throughout the U.S. who produce outstanding communications materials. As part of this year's national competition the HCPS communications team of Brian Capaldo, Rebecca Holbrook, Justin Mattingly, and Chris Whitley received three recognitions

[01:25:29] making the team's 12th, 13th, and 14th national awards, among a host of other regional awards. Specifically, the team received two awards in the social media category, one for the brag on a bus driver campaign that encouraged and used community submissions to highlight exceptional bus drivers in our county, and another for the annual teacher appreciation week series, highlighting all of our teachers of the year. They also received an award for superintendent's fiscal year 2026 proposed budget presentation congratulations to our communications

[01:26:01] team for their continued success ready i think everybody looks great one two three excellent

[01:27:07] thank you all right and at this time i will turn it back over to our chair mrs welsh for a special recognition thank you very much um so this evening it is my privilege to recognize and celebrate the remarkable career and lasting impact of Ms. Mandy Baker, who will retire this August after

[01:27:42] eight years of dedicated service as Hanover County Public Schools Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources. Mandy joined Hanover in 2017, bringing with her a wealth of experience and a heart for people. Before joining our team, she served as the Director of Human Resources for Henrico County public schools from 2013 to 2017. And before that, she honed her leadership skills in the private sector, leading human resources efforts for organizations such as Henrico Doctors and

[01:28:18] Capital One. In every role, she has combined exceptional strategic vision with a deep commitment to serving others. During her tenure in Hanover, Mandy has been more than an administrator. She has been a mentor, a trusted advisor, and a champion for our staff, students, and community.

[01:28:41] Her steady leadership has guided our division through times of growth and change, including unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. In those uncertain days, Mandy's calm presence, clear communication, and unwavering support for our employees helped our schools navigate new realities while keeping our focus on ensuring that our schools are places where talented people want to work and students can thrive. Mandy is widely respected by her colleagues, peers, and community for her wisdom, professionalism, and integrity. Her

[01:29:19] leadership has shaped a human resources team that is not only, sorry, highly skilled but deeply collaborative, a reflection of her belief that people are our greatest resource. The team she has nurtured will continue to carry forward her legacy in the years ahead. On behalf of Hanover County Public Schools, we thank Ms. Mandy Baker for her extraordinary service, leadership, and friendship. We wish her the very best in retirement, confident that while she may be

[01:29:55] leaving her office, her influence will remain in the work we do every day. Please join me in congratulating Ms. Mandy Baker on her well-earned retirement and in expressing our heartfelt appreciation for all she has done for Hanover County Public Schools and we'd like to wish Mandy

[01:30:12] a very happy birthday today. I also want to thank the staff for coming out and being

[01:32:16] and helping us recognize Ms. Baker for her excellence in the time of you've been here through Hanover County. So thank you all for coming out and celebrating her. I think I just missed her. It's recorded so they can see. Yes, thank you. And I'd also like to put you on the spot a little bit and ask you how we're doing as your last duty, somewhat of your last duty.

[01:32:47] Thank you. It is my pleasure to share with the board and the community that as of today we have one teacher vacancy. It is due to a promotional opportunity of one of our teachers moving into a senior teacher role. We have eight bus driver vacancies. We have six people that are starting the training process. So we are excited that we are in such great shape starting the new school year. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for all your hard work and your team's hard work.

[01:33:17] paid off definitely a team effort thank you so much thank you okay so i have um we're going to go into board announcements and i'm going to make a quick um one and then we will move on from there well it's here back to school season is upon us we might not have students in the classrooms yet for a few more days but we have opened our schools for our teachers support staff and to hold open houses. It's an exciting time for all of us, especially us parents.

[01:33:51] We had two convocations today, one at Mechanicsville High School and one at Atlee High School, and we have two more tomorrow at the other high schools. It blew me away. Absolutely fantastic.

[01:34:07] Our theme is We Are Family, and some of us are wearing our t-shirts from today, so we are a little bit more casual, but we love the t-shirts and love the message so much that we really wanted to share that with y'all. It is a fantastic message, and I couldn't be more proud of being a part of this family, so I want to say welcome back to everybody and look forward to a great year. That being said, we will move on if there are any other board announcements. I do. I have some. Okay. I want to give two shout outs. I was able this weekend to be a part of an event

[01:34:46] where many community groups came together along with Carrie Secuto and her family engagement team to make sure that the families of Hanover County got clothes that they needed for back to school and resources that they needed. And it was a great turnout. Everyone was in a wonderful mood. And it's just so nice to see people coming together and helping our neighbors be ready for back to school.

[01:35:09] The second one is, I wanted to give a shout out to Ben Saunders. My daughter had the privilege of attending the Hanover Regional Governor's School Career for Technical, the E, education, at Randolph-Macon.

[01:35:25] And she loved it. That program is well run, well crafted, engaging. Her texts from the week went from, I'm having so much fun, this is the most fun I've ever had and towards the end it was I do not want to come home. So she had a great time and I was just really impressed with the outings that they took and the people they got to meet and what they were able to do and so job well done to that team as well. It is an excellent program. Thank you very much Ms. Lynn. Anybody else have any announcements? Okay. I'd just like to recognize Terry Woody our

[01:36:04] health services coordinator who has been once again appointed by the governor to the governor to the advisory council on pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders and pediatric acute onset neuropsychiatric syndrome the council advises the commissioner of health on research diagnosis treatment and education relating to pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with strepococcal infections and pediatric acute onset neuropsychiatric syndrome.

[01:36:43] Also, Jackie McCaleb, the principal of Battlefield Elementary School, has been appointed by the governor to the Board of Visitors of Longwood University, as it's her alma mater. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you very much, Dr. Sheff. Mr. Martin? Yeah, I have a couple. First, At Chickahominy Madison Barber, a student there won a gold medal in the Focus on Children category at the 2025 Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America Conference in Orlando.

[01:37:13] She impressed the judges with her project to help students create their own boundaries for screen use. After competing, she attended a leadership workshop, participated in general business sessions, and networked with students around the country. So just wanted to give her a shout-out. Congratulations, Madison.

[01:37:29] And then at Bell Creek Middle An example of just the wonderful teachers we have that Whitney was just talking about Miss Fox in eighth grade language arts teacher at Bell Creek Middle Talked about NASCAR NASCAR racing all year with Austin one of her students who's a huge NASCAR fan And driver named Antron Brown when Antron was in town for a race Miss Fox was able to pull off a surprise and set up lunch For for her student and this driver so very cool the driver to do that But but amazing example of a teacher going out of her way. Um, I was at convocation for the first time today

[01:38:07] That was awesome. Um, I knew we had incredible people here, but to see it firsthand It's something I've never seen before was really really incredible Well done to the committee that set it up. I just just can't say enough positive things about what I experienced While he's here dr. Wheeler, I don't think family feud is in your future um but um otherwise it was a fantastic day thank you thank you mr martin and um we have to i think that we'll see tomorrow playing family feud right okay thank y'all for being here um

[01:38:46] any more announcements that we have no okay so we're gonna go um into um our our beef of our meeting um so we have we need a motion to approve the consent agenda that is in front of y'all do you have a motion so move thank you mr. Coleman thank you dr. Schroff so is there any discussion for our consent agenda okay seeing none all those in favor say aye aye all those opposed okay consent agenda is a passed and we will

[01:39:18] move into the instructional highlight thank you I'm distracted I bring to you annually the reports of the advisory boards that serve at the behest of our school board and so those are five different reports the structure of each report is the same we ask that the reports come in with both the staff liaisons name and the chair of that particular advisory board they also talk

[01:39:54] about their subcommittees any activities and speakers and accomplishments that they have but the meat of the advisory reports are the recommendations that they are putting forward for the upcoming fiscal year budget consideration, and then also changes in practice and any policy changes that they wish to pass on to staff for consideration as well. So I'm going to go through the five particular advisory board reports for you. What they also do is they connect their recommendations directly to the comprehensive plan. We feel that that's a good strategy for making sure that we all stay centered

[01:40:30] around our North Star. And so I will begin with the Gifted Advisory Committee, and they brought to you four different recommendations for the upcoming year. Recommendation number one is to expand our force of gifted teachers to include some itinerant gifted teachers who would serve at the elementary level for screening, increasing collaboration with general ed classrooms, and just finding new and innovative ways to support our gifted population. Recommendation number two is to provide some professional learning or professional development opportunities for our cluster teachers. For those

[01:41:06] of you who aren't familiar with that, that's a terminology that we use in elementary when our students who are identified as gifted and are talented, they are put into clusters, small pockets within the general education classrooms. And so looking for opportunities for the general educators to receive a little bit more training in how to provide support for gifted learners.

[01:41:30] Recommendation number three is to expand our community reach into such avenues as the EdExpo and or the Arts and Science Festival. And then recommendation number four is to rethink gifted course scheduling in high school.

[01:41:45] So there is a seminar that is an opportunity, an elective at our middle school, and they're looking to see whether we could expand that up into high school. Our next board advisory report comes from Special Education Advisory Committee, our SEAC report.

[01:42:03] Their first recommendation is to look at development of a parent-teacher communication plan to be used at the annual IEP meeting. And so that would modify an existing practice and put a little bit more meat on the bones of what we already do. Recommendation number two is to evaluate all school stages.

[01:42:20] Some of our stages are not as accessible as we would like them to be for all of our students that we serve in the county. Recommendation number three is an increase in a very specific type of position that we have in our division, and that is a behavior technician positions.

[01:42:37] These are traveling positions that go to very individualized schools when a student seems to be needing additional support. And so these are highly trained instructional assistants who have the capacity to work through some of those issues with our students.

[01:42:53] So the SEAC board has recommended that we look at hiring six new behavior technicians to add to the four existing positions and then also provide them with a supervising consultative teacher to guide their work.

[01:43:08] Recommendation number four is to look at coaching positions specific to a collaborative setting. So a coach who is able to help a general ed teacher and a special education teacher truly collaborate in the best possible way to serve the needs of the school.

[01:43:24] Recommendation number five is to continue to explore the scope and effectiveness of alternative placements. And so really looking at what are our options for students as they have escalating needs in their needs for their identified disability and the supports and services that they might need.

[01:43:44] Recommendation number six is to implement a transition virtual presentation for students as they're moving to middle school. Our middle schools have full-day camps for our students, but our students with disabilities may need a little bit more support in making that transition from elementary to middle school.

[01:44:02] Our next report is the Family Life Community Involvement Team, and this board has brought forward three recommendations. One is to provide professional learning opportunities for staff based upon current trends. This is an organization that stays in touch with any changes that come from VDOE, but then also reacts to and collects information in terms of how the community is responding to our Family Life curriculum.

[01:44:29] Recommendation two is to continue to make opt-out forms available in a digital format at all of our schools. And recommendation number three is to continue the popular virtual parent sessions before the school-based instruction begins. Our school health advisory board brings to you two recommendations.

[01:44:53] The first is to continue to evaluate all areas of school health and to align with current guidelines from the VDOE and from the Virginia Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control. And recommendation number two is a policy change.

[01:45:09] They are asking that we look at our regulation related to our wellness policy 6-3.19 to include language that promotes greater hydration and access to drinking water during the school day. Our final report is our Career and Technical Education Advisory Committee, and their first recommendation is to continue to review and update the information technology pathway. So we have many different pathways for our career and technical education. This is one that we are

[01:45:43] continuing to flesh out. The advent of data centers and things like that in our community I'm definitely warrant a further look at how we can build out this pathway to provide opportunities for career advancement for our students Recommendation number two is to continue to to explore any future CTE programming You hear mr. Roe rink when he comes to speak to you talk about the landscape within the regional area But then also the state to make sure that the offerings that we have for our students meet What is going to be the future need for employment? And then we also want to make sure that as we are expanding out the

[01:46:23] Trades and technical school that we continue to look at those trends to make sure that we select the best programs available for our students and Then recommendation number three from that group is to look at some dual enrollment opportunities Related to our CTE classes so the students can earn some credits through Reynolds at the same time as earning their qualifications and their credentials in some of their pathways. As you can see, there are different types of requests that have come through. The one that is most important for you as a board, any of the recommendations that I've just spoken about that have a fiscal implication will come to you directly in your prioritization

[01:47:03] activity later this fall. And so any of the positions, any of the things that have a dollar sign attached to them such as looking at remediating some of our stages, that will all come to you this fall. The other aspects of these generally are left to staff to monitor, report back to the advisory boards, and take under consideration what types of changes. However, if there are any recommendations that the board is very interested in making sure that staff addresses more quickly than others, please just let me know and we will make sure that we take care of that. I am happy

[01:47:36] to answer any questions. Thank you, Ms. Greif. Does anybody have any questions about any of the advisory committee reports? Does SEAC know that they have to go through Ms. Stone for their budget requests? So they are free to give us any of their advice, and then we work with Ms. Stone to see what is feasible. I'm just teasing. I just saw her face. When you said a budget request

[01:48:10] in position. I saw her face change, but anyway. Thank you. Okay, are we good? Thank you very much. All right, thank you very much. Okay, we are moving on from our instructional highlight to information and discussion, and we are going to have a discussion about, in a first read on um policy 7-2.3 um i can't remember what this one is school admissions yes thank you good evening

[01:48:46] madam chair member members of the school board um i am not leah hahn as as you can see on there um for those in the audience and those watching online my name is dennis walter i'm the county attorney for hanover county i am here uh tonight to uh for the first read of some proposed revisions as you pointed out with respect to Policy 7-2.3 related to the admission of students.

[01:49:08] I just want to do a little bit of background before I go into what the proposed changes are, and that is state code, specifically Section 22.1-3 of the Code of Virginia, provides for who's eligible to receive a free public education in a locality. The most obvious example of that are students who reside with their parents in that jurisdiction.

[01:49:28] But there are other instances where students are eligible to be enrolled. And one of those that's listed is those situations where the parents have been found not to be able to care for their student, and the student is living not solely for education purposes in another jurisdiction.

[01:49:48] In those instances, those students are eligible to be enrolled in a school division entitled to free education, much like those who are in the more traditional situation where students are living with their parents.

[01:50:03] Last year, the school board reviewed and amended this policy 7-2.3 to provide some clarity as to when that, I'm going to call it that alternative, can be shown. For many years, the school board required that a court order specify those findings, that the biological parents are unable to care for the child and that a placement is not for school purposes.

[01:50:26] The school board decided to provide some flexibility, where we still have that custody transfer, but that we have some third-party verification other than the court to indicate that it was not solely for purposes. So that could be either a doctor, pediatrician, mental health care provider, or a guardian ad litem for court proceedings.

[01:50:47] So that's what the school board did last year. Basically, the intent is not to have parents to be able to sort of self-certify that-- or the custodian to self-certify that the situations that are set forth in state code have been satisfied. The change that is being proposed that is on for first read would provide for some greater clarity and some greater flexibility in how family members primarily can show that their student is eligible to be enrolled.

[01:51:13] And you can see that the highlighted text is what is being proposed. So there are many custody situations where legal or physical custody is given in part to somebody else. Usually, it's another family member. This change, as you can see, would provide that if there's a court order that grants at least 50% of physical custody to an individual or individuals, they can enroll that student in Hanover County Public Schools.

[01:51:41] This does not require anything beyond that custody order. This proposed change would allow those that are granted physical custody. So the question is, why do we have physical custody? probably have heard in the past, legal custody and physical custody. There's actually a difference between the two, although there is an overlap. Physical custody is, as it sounds, where the where a child would physically reside. That can happen with or without legal custody. Legal custody is the more broader type of authorization and that deals with authority over things like upbringing,

[01:52:17] making decisions about religious educations, can include medical decisions. It's kind of the power of attorney kind of approach. But this focus is really on the physical custody aspect of it. And that's largely because state code, by and large, looks to the physical location of a child as to whether or not they are eligible to be enrolled.

[01:52:38] And so this situation attempts to provide for some greater clarity and for some greater flexibility. So the question is, where might this come up? And the most common scenario that we've thought is likely to come up is a custody arrangement between biological parents and extended family members.

[01:52:57] Could be grandparents. It could be an aunt or uncle, something along those lines. And in those situations, so long as the order provides for at least 50%, which would be joint-- or they actually do percentages in some of these orders, depending upon how many days-- so long as it is more than 50%, this would allow the student to be enrolled.

[01:53:18] And again, the focus is the child would physically, for a majority of the time, be here in Hanover County. And the thought is policy should allow for those students to be enrolled in the same way that students who reside here 100% of the time do.

[01:53:35] So this is one of those we try to, every so often when policy is amended, there are gaps, there are overlaps. This appears that it may be a gap. And so this is being brought forth the school board's consideration over the next month to determine whether or not this change should be made i'm happy to answer any questions you can see the proposed changes on the screen before you thank you mr walters any any questions or concerns or comments discussion okay so this

[01:54:09] will be on next month's agenda for uh adoption okay thank you very much um and now ms stone is going to take us through the budget development calendar for 2020 fiscal year 2027 good evening madam chair board members dr. penny cuff it's hard to believe but it is budget time again and so one of the first steps is to bring to you a draft budget calendar which is included in board docs and also before you it looks a little funky up there but that's okay we're doing our best the first part of this is to really review the process and this calendar that we're

[01:54:47] proposing follows what we've done in past years and you can see that beginning next month we'll start on the CIP development process we also in October we'll start meetings with county staff to talk about what their budget is looking like what is revenue looking like what are the expectations we're hoping by mid-September we will have department requests we'll have those budget requests for next year from our departments and principals in November we typically begin to hear a budget target from the county in terms of what

[01:55:24] they the funding that they believe they may have available we also in November have our budget our first meeting of the budget advisory focus group and in December is typically the second meeting of that group moving from there we've listed all of the meetings for our budget process September 9th is approval of a budget calendar so that's next month if you all we have a month to think about it and if we have any changes we can make those before next month October 14th is a public input in regards to next year's budget it's not necessarily a public hearing it's not required by state code but it's something

[01:56:02] that we typically do just to receive some input before we start the process then January 20th would be presentation of the superintendent's proposed budget a week later we have our public hearing which is required by state code February 3rd is an additional meeting if needed February 10th which is our regular meeting would be approval of the superintendent of the actually it's the superintendent's proposed at that meeting if approved it becomes a school board approved budget it then is sent over to the county which is required by state code that we

[01:56:39] provide the county with a budget request we expect february 18th we would present to the county board of supervisors that date can change sometimes depending upon the board of supervisors schedule and then on february 20th we typically take the proposed budget of before the teacher advisory committee and the classified advisory council and then we would have the board of supervisors public hearing board of supervisors will consider adoption of the fy 2027 budget on april 8th and then we would come back before this board looking for an adopted school board budget at

[01:57:18] the main meeting so again this follows the typical budget process and i'm happy to take any questions if not we'll be back next month looking for approval thank you miss stone do we have any questions on the budget schedule okay seeing none thank you very much we'll see you next month madam chair board members dr.

[01:57:47] Penny cuff the first three items under action came from the instructional side of the house there were we have public comment thank you oh okay well we're going to go to public comment and then we're going to be then you're going to be up okay mr coleman mr coleman do you have something to read for us yes uh thank you madam chair procedures for public comment the school board conducts the public comment segment

[01:58:25] of its meetings to receive information from the general public on matters related to hanover county public schools per board policy the total time allotted for public comment will not exceed 60 minutes. Speakers who wish to address the school board are requested to follow these guidelines. As each speaker is recognized by the chairperson, each is asked to clearly state their name, magisterial district, and the subject of their remarks. Speakers are asked to address their comments to the board and not to the audience. The board requests that the audience refrain from responding to speakers' comments with applause or other audible expressions of approval

[01:59:00] or disapproval. Speakers are allotted three minutes to address the board. Each speaker's elapsed time will appear on the screen. Speakers will also receive notification from the chairperson when time has expired. Although the board does not permit the use of slideshows or other projected materials during this segment, speakers are invited to provide printed copies of such materials to the board. The board requests any person with a complaint about a school division employee to first address the concern to the division superintendent in accordance with board policy.

[01:59:35] Comments targeting, criticizing, or attacking individual students are not permitted during this segment, and speakers should refrain from using personally identifiable information in connection with an individual student. Speakers should be aware that, while the board allows speakers to address any matter within the board's purview, speakers may be held legally responsible if they make statements that violate the legal rights of others including threatening or defamatory statements made against staff members students or parents the board expresses its appreciation for the public's

[02:00:11] input and cooperation during this segment of the meeting all right all right so first up is uh kristin holte and after kristin is miss pat hunter jordan good evening chair welsh vice chair coleman members of the school board dr pennycuff senior members of the school board staff parents fellow citizens. My name is Kristen Hulte and I reside in the Cold Harbor District. Thank you for

[02:00:50] the opportunity to speak to you tonight. Welcome again to Dr. Shroff of Cold Harbor District and Dr. Shulp of the South Anna District. The school year has yet to begin and report cards are already out. I am so proud of the Hanover County Public Schools for based on data all four Hanover High schools made the list of the top 25 best public schools in 2025 in the Richmond area. We should all be proud of our Hanover County public school system. There are two studies done by stacker on

[02:01:25] the schools in the Richmond metro area, one on middle schools, the second on area high schools. All four middle schools and all four high schools were ranked and ranked highly. For your further review, I have cited the Stacker studies in your copy of my comments, as well as Stacker's methodology. I'll be giving that to you. Let's see. It should also be noted that the top four middle schools in our region are Hanover's middle schools, two with a grade of A-, two with grades

[02:02:01] of A. Atlee and Hanover High are graded at an A-, Patrick Henry received a grade of B, and Mechanicsville High School received a grade of B minus plus. That is not surprising to anyone who is familiar with or who have students in the Harrow County system.

[02:02:17] Our middle and high schools are ranked very highly. Why? Because our schools are preparing students for productive careers. Our schools are equipping the next generation to lead, compete, and thrive in the workplace. Academic excellence at its best.

[02:02:35] I would like to thank each member of the board, our administrators and staff, and each and every teacher, substitute teacher, and everyone on staff at each school in Hanover. Truly, your commitment to academic excellence touches lives, four more than you could ever imagine.

[02:02:52] Thank you for all that you do, and stay strong for the sake of the children, for they should be first and are the future. You make a difference every day in the lives of many young students. With the beginning of the new school year, I applaud you and challenge you to raise the bar even higher. Thank you to each and every one on Team Hanover for their commitment to academic excellence and to giving our community your absolute best. 30 seconds. It is noticed both in our communities and by outside organizations by Stacker. Please continue to keep Hanover schools at the top of the metro Richmond area schools. Thank you for your time and attention.

[02:03:26] Thank you. Ms. Pat Hunter-Jordan, next up is Holly Woodson. Good evening. My name is Patricia Hunter-Jordan, and I reside in the Cole Harbor District.

[02:03:49] I am glad to be here, glad to welcome our two newest members of the school board. We are glad to have you, and this looks like such a friendly team up here. I sat back there in amazement, and I'm grateful to see that here today.

[02:04:06] I think that Hanover County is, we are blessed. We are blessed. But when we look at everything, we must look at the whole picture. And we must see that we have areas that we need to work on.

[02:04:26] That has to be the situation in anything when we want improvement. That there are things that we do really well, and there are things that we can always work on. And for us, when I go around, I want to see us completely focused on education in our school system.

[02:04:48] That, for me, is our main purpose. I go to some of our schools, and when we come here, what do we see for congratulations? All athletics, you know. We don't see our academic awards.

[02:05:04] And we could probably help those of us who want to come to school board meetings by going to those schools and congratulating those athletes there instead of having all of that time here. But I think about Mr. Powell, who was featured on the news, showing all of his great all-around efforts in Hanover County, chess player, straight A's in school throughout his tenure, but he never made it here to be recognized.

[02:05:43] but we recognize every athlete. Now, my grandson played athlete. He's a baseball player. Didn't make it to the baseball team until he already got a scholarship to play baseball, but he did make it and he's going on a complete scholarship. So I'm not against athlete, not at all, but I think the focus needs to be on education first. My grandson played ball. He had six uniforms.

[02:06:19] And then I sit and I wonder why I hear our band asking for money for their uniforms. So I think we can look a little more at the fundraising aspect in our schools and see if that is distributed a little bit better, so that all of our children have the same opportunity.

[02:06:43] I thank you. Madam Chair, I think that'll do it. Okay, thank you to our public comments. Ms. Greif, would you like to join us now?

[02:07:00] I apologize to our speakers. I did not mean to cut in line, but I am eager to bring to you three items for action that we talked about last month. And so the first policy that we're looking to revise is related to some general assembly language that came out.

[02:07:21] There have been no changes to this since we presented it to you last month. Okay, thank you. Do we have a motion or any questions for Ms. Gray first, I guess? No? Okay, and do we have a motion?

[02:07:41] Maybe. Madam Chair, I make a motion that we pass policy 751 to address protection for student-athletes during extreme heat and humidity as presented. Second.

[02:07:57] Okay, thank you, Mr. Martin and Mr. Coleman. Do we have any discussion on the revisions for policy 7-5.1? Okay, seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed?

[02:08:14] Okay, motion passes. Thank you, Madam Chair. The next is consideration for a new regulation related to the selection of students for our specialty programs. The regulation itself has not changed, but we did, at the request of the board, take back to staff the percentages that would be used for the different categories for the Hanover Center for Trades and Technology.

[02:08:39] And staff made modifications to that to do a 20% split for the five different categories to make sure that we were really providing the opportunity for students who had greater interest in those programs to be able to express that through their letters of recommendation and their personal statements. All other programs remain the same from the slide deck that we presented last month. Thank you, Ms. Greif. Are there any questions for Ms. Greif? Okay. Mr. Seifert, do we have a motion? I do. I move to adopt the proposed new regulation 6-3.10c,

[02:09:16] selection of students for specialty programs as presented. Thank you Mr. Seifert. We have a motion on the table or do we have any seconds? Second. Thank you Dr. Shroff. We have a second from Dr. Shroff. Is there any discussion? Okay seeing none. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed?

[02:09:34] Motion passes. Moving on. All right and the third one is the procedures for computing class rank. Again no changes since it was brought to you last month. Thank you. Do we have any questions for msgrife okay um do we have a motion madam chair i move to approve the proposed revised regulation 6-4.7 a procedures for computing class rank as presented uh thank you dr schroff do we have a

[02:10:02] second uh thank you miss lynn um do we have any discussion okay um i see oh okay um seeing none all those in favor say aye aye all those opposed all right motion passes um the next okay great thank you miss stone good evening again um so we're here tonight to request approval of the reappropriation of fiscal year 2025 remaining grant balances to fiscal year 2026. the

[02:10:42] reappropriation process is something that we go through every year your approval then passes this request on to the Board of Supervisors for consideration. So as you know, at the end of June 30th, 2025, all of our unspent funds or appropriation budget expenditure capacity expires.

[02:11:04] And we often have grants that are on a different fiscal year, or they could be multi-year grants that have funds remaining to be spent and revenue to be drawn down so this is a process that we go through every year to request that the board of supervisors reappropriate those remaining balances into the new year budget so that we can continue to spend those dollars and draw those dollars down so if we look down we'll see that the amount is a not to exceed three million four hundred twenty three thousand one hundred fifteen dollars that is the estimate of all

[02:11:44] estimate of all the remaining grants now this changes because we still have some expenditures to post we have to go through the audit so this is the not to exceed amount we will really perfect that number until we go through the closing of the final books as it's related to the audit this will go to the Board of Supervisors Finance Committee on August 20th and then to the Board of Supervisors for consideration at their last meeting in August so again this is your usual process this year it's only grant funds it's typically grant funds

[02:12:22] but there is the opportunity to request other operating funds for example if we had a major project or a project that wasn't finished had not all been encumbered we could make that request of the Board of Supervisors also. And then for your capital projects, the appropriation that is when the capital project CIP is adopted by the Board of Supervisors, their language for appropriation makes those funds roll over automatically from year to year until they're completely spent.

[02:12:57] So I am looking for approval tonight somewhat because we don't know these numbers until the last minute. we're just we're still closing out the books and posting expenditures but this is the amount or the request that we would like to send to the board of supervisors and i'd be happy to take any questions thank you miss stone do we have any questions um on the um the amount here or any of the where it's coming from okay i'm seeing um no questions um miss lynn do we have a promotion i

[02:13:29] to. I move to amend the FY2026 budget in the amount of $3,423,115 to carry over funding for programs and grants that weren't completed in the prior fiscal year. Thank you, Ms. Lynn. We have a motion on the floor. Do we have a second? Second. Thank you, Dr. Shroff. Do we have any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes. Thank

[02:13:58] you moving on to our fiscal status report which you should have are we do we have any questions on that any comments no okay then you have your facility use report as well and if there are no questions we will move on to the calendar of board related events and you have that in front of you we do have convocation two of them tomorrow one in the morning starts at 8:30 I believe and

[02:14:34] one in the afternoon starts at 1:00 correct okay so I hope to see all there it's a great celebration and then you'll see that we have some we have some training and we have our next meeting in September anything to add yes for those of you who are able to join us for state of state of the county for with the Chamber of Commerce on November 5th please let Kate and me know so that we can get you registered for those of you who've already let us know we have you

[02:15:12] registered if you're not sure we can have you check with Kate thank you yes do we have any questions about that no next we have schedule of topics for our next school board meeting thank you we have two that will carry over we will bring back the request for the approval of the budget calendar we'll also bring back policy 7-2.3 school admission we are seeking oak knoll middle school their nasa recognition to be our instructional highlight

[02:15:46] so i will look forward to hearing about their experiences thank you and then i have made a note that November we can't forget our other topic so great yes thank you thank you Dr. Penny cuff so there is one thing left and madam chair if I made a little bit of indulgence the school board recognized miss Baker earlier this evening for the successful completion of her time with the Hanover County Public Schools I just want to make a couple comments on behalf of the county

[02:16:21] Attorney's Office. Four attorneys in the office have had the pleasure of working with Ms. Baker over her tenure, beginning with Yvonne Gibney and then Lisa Seward. Then for a short time, she had to endure working with me. And for the last year or so, she's been working with Leah Hahn.

[02:16:39] Ms. Baker has demonstrated that she is a true professional who cares not only for Hanover County Public Schools employees, but for the school division as a whole. On behalf of the Attorney's Office. I want to thank her for her work and for her dedication both to Hanover County Public Schools and the Hanover County Community. I don't get to say this often but I will say this: she is a friend of the County Attorney's Office and she's a friend of this County Attorney and we wish her all the best and we hope that she has a long, happy, and healthy retirement. Thank you, Madam

[02:17:15] chair thank you very much that was very sweet thank you and we echo those sentiments we we're gonna very much miss you but we're glad to have dr. Parker in your shoe in your shoes and she has some big shoes to fill so but we know you trained her so thank you very much and we are down to our last thing mr. Martin do you have a motion yes ma'am I'll make a motion to adjourn okay we have emotional the table do we have a second thank you very much is there any discussion of course not all those in favor say aye aye all those opposed thank

[02:17:53] you we are adjourned

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